The invention relates to a device for infiltration of approximal tooth surfaces, with a flexible planar element, and with a holder into which the planar element is clamped.
With such a device, the planar element can be used not only to clean interdental spaces, but also to provide these with fluoride compounds (US 2006/0000486). For this purpose, the cloth-shaped or cloth-like planar element is soaked with the fluoride compound. In this way, both tooth surfaces lying opposite each other in the interspace are wetted at the same time.
Wetting on both sides is in many cases undesirable. This is particularly so when a dental restoration material for incipient caries is to be applied. Caries is characterized by progressive demineralization of the enamel by metabolic products of bacteria, resulting in the first instance in small lesions called white spots. If left untreated, these lead to cavities that finally destroy the tooth. Even lesions that are detected at an early stage can rarely be remineralized. They are usually treated by traditional filling therapy in which healthy tooth substance also has to be removed. Filling therapy is particularly disadvantageous in the case of approximal caries, i.e. caries present on the aspect of the tooth facing the neighboring tooth, since healthy tooth substance increasingly has to be removed in order to gain access. However, given the poor accessibility, even for toothbrushes, approximal caries occurs much more frequently than caries on smooth surfaces (outer (vestibular) and inner (lingual/palatal) aspects of the teeth).
The need to remove healthy tooth substance is largely avoided by the method of infiltration of enamel lesions, in which method an infiltrant, a liquid with a high coefficient of penetration, is introduced into the existing lesion and is polymerized there, if necessary after the less porous surface layer of the caries has been removed using an etching agent (e.g. an acid gel) in order to open the pores of the damaged area. The lesion is thus protected against the entry of bacteria and/or the metabolic products thereof. For approximal use of the infiltrant, special application aids are needed because of the difficulty of access.
For this purpose, it is known to use films as aids for applying substances to approximal surfaces of teeth.
German laid-open specification DE 10216950 A1 describes applying a fluoride gel by means of a flexible film. To make it easier to insert the film into the interdental space, it can be strengthened along the film edge by an integrated thread. A continuation of this thread is intended to avoid the film being swallowed.
The published international application WO 00/66025 A1 describes a method for applying and hardening dental protective varnishes by means of a fabric strip. The latter contains areas with substrate materials in which the substances are made available. At its ends, the strip is typically made of dental floss or of other filaments, in order to facilitate insertion into the interdental space. The strips have sufficient mobility in order to adapt to the dental arch, and/or the substrate material is adapted to the dental arch.
Moreover, European patent application EP 1854445 A1 discloses polymer plastic films for use as application strips for infiltration of approximal enamel lesions. The application strips consist of plastic films measuring ca. 20 cm in length, onto which a coating is applied that carries an infiltrant or an etching agent.
However, all the application strips described to date have the disadvantage that their dimensions and mobility make them difficult to handle. Handling is also made difficult by the fact that polymer plastic films can statically charge and then adhere to the hands or gloves of the user. Mobility also poses the danger of the substances that are to be transferred coming into contact with healthy enamel or even with the oral mucosa. Moreover, they can only be used with two hands in the oral cavity, such that the user no longer has a hand free with which to insert another device (dental mirror, etc.). Moreover, in the case of the rear molars for example, the user has to place the fingers deep in the oral cavity in order to bring the films correctly into position in the interdental space. The limited space for working in and the field of view are thus restricted. Woven materials such as dental floss have the disadvantage that they are not resistant to the infiltrants to be used, since they are very movable, even with considerable thickness of filament.
An object is to overcome the disadvantages of known application strips.